Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt - John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement
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John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy
and Civic Engagement
Youth Activism and Public Space
in Egypt
Gerhart Center
2011
About the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, the American University in Cairo Established in 2006 at the American University in Cairo (AUC), the Gerhart Center serves as a leading provider of knowledge and resources for strengthening philanthropic and civic practice in the Arab region. The Center’s work is organized around three interrelated goals: to become a leading provider of accessible knowledge for the philanthropic and civic sector; to build capacity for leadership around social responsibility, and to enhance the ability of AUC and Arab universities to become more civically engaged. Those goals are pursued with an array of partners in the academic, civil society and corporate sectors, both within the region and internationally. About Innovations in Civic Participation Since 2001, ICP has been a leader in the global movement to promote sustainable development and social change through youth community engagement. ICP works by: incubating innovative ideas and models for scaling up national youth service and service learning; creating and expanding global networks of individuals and organizations committed to developing youth community participation; consulting with governments and international organizations on designing national youth engagement policies and programs; and conducting research and publicizing information on youth community engagement around the world. ICP brings a wealth of expertise in working with various international stakeholders in the field of youth community engagement.
Ben Robinson
Contents
Foreword 5
Susan Stroud and Barbara Ibrahim
Introduction 7
Public Space and Youth Voices in the Midan
Sherine El-Taraboulsi
Section 1 10
Spaces of Citizenship: Youth Civic Engagement and
Pathways to the January 25 Revolution
Sherine El-Taraboulsi
Section 2 20
Virtual Public Spaces: Social Media and Informal Youth Participation
Colleen Hammelman and Betsy Mesard
Section 3 34
“Proud to be Egyptian”: Art as Activism in the Egyptian Revolution
Sherine El-Taraboulsi with photos by
Rania Helmy, Salma Howeedy, Amir Makar and Sherine El-Taraboulsi
Conclusion 41
Barbara Ibrahim and Colleen Hammelman
References 44
Rania Helmy
Foreword
As the world was captivated by Egypt and the unfolding events in Tahrir Square during the January 25 Revolution,
we were inspired by the committed young people who took to public spaces, virtual and physical, and became the
catalysts for change. They used multiple means -- social media, street protests, neighborhood protection committees,
social services for demonstrators, as well as creative forms of artistic expression.
The John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo and
Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) are proud to present this report: Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt.
It captures some of the precursors to the events of early 2011, including profiles of three youth-led organizations
and how they responded, and an analysis of the power and limits of social media to spur civic action. The report
concludes with an exploration of the colorful graffiti art through which young Egyptians expressed the culture of
the Revolution.
Having worked with young people in the region for many years and recently undertaken a study mapping assets for
youth civic engagement in Egypt, we noted over the past decade a growing momentum for youth activism in Egypt.
In 2010, we surveyed a number of youth civic engagement organizations in Egypt and held roundtable discussions
on the potential and obstacles youth faced in pressing for greater involvement. During one of these events at Cairo
University, the spirited, overflowing crowds signaled a growing momentum on the part of young people to overcome
stagnation and spark new approaches to reclaim their nation. Yet it was less clear how this momentum might be
channeled into substantial societal change.
As the examples in this report demonstrate, young people before, during and after the January 25 Revolution were
forging their own space to express citizenship without waiting for older generations to bring reform and development
to Egypt. Now that their vision and courage helped to bring down the old order, important work still lies ahead is to
translate that political energy into nation-building.
We hope this report can serve as testimony to the capacity and enthusiasm of young people to be effective drivers of
that effort. Whatever political and governance structures are established now, they must provide ways for the voices
of youth to be meaningfully heard and their needs addressed.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
5
ICP and the Gerhart Center would like to express sincere appreciation to the Rockefeller
Brothers Fund for supporting this publication. We also thank the various activists and experts
who helped to guide the project, especially Ayman Shehata, Hania Aswad, Ehaab Abdou and all
those who shared their stories with us. The report authors and contributors formed a youthful team
themselves, who worked under tight time constraints to produce this publication. We also express
profound appreciation to young people throughout Egypt who inspired us and the world with their
commitment and innovative strategies for change.
Susan Stroud, Executive Director Barbara Ibrahim, Director
Innovations in Civic Participation John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and
Civic Engagement, American University in Cairo
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
6
Introduction: Public Space and Youth
Voices in the Midan
Sherine El-Taraboulsi, John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement1
Scenes from the January 25 Egyptian Revolution immediately direct attention to Tahrir Square
or the Midan as the ultimate public space; a place where hundreds of thousands of Egyptians --
particularly young people2 from all walks of life -- united to call for “justice, freedom and human
dignity”. Even five months after the fall of the regime, Tahrir Square remains a place where
young Egyptians congregate to voice their grievances and call for change. On another level, it is
a microcosm of the revolution that was happening on a larger scale [both temporal and spatial] in
the entire country. Tahrir Square’s open space and the labyrinthine streets that lead up to it typify
a kaleidoscope of public spaces that have their roots in the period prior to the revolution. And yet
what this report highlights are the many ways in which a youth generation placed their unique
stamp of creativity on public space, both before and during the 18 days of mass uprisings.
Public space can be defined in many ways, from a strictly legal concept that “regulates the property
of and rights of access to physical places.” (Staiger 310)3 to the more symbolic Habermasian
“public sphere.” His is a socio-political term defining the realm between civil society and the
State; “which stands for the condition under which public debate might become a legitimizing
basis for democratic political action.” (Staiger 310) Here, the term “public space” will be used in
the broadest most inclusive sense as a space for the people; a physical and ideological space of
encounter, one that comprises historical, cultural and social dimensions.
1 Sherine El-Taraboulsi is Research Manager at the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and
Civic Engagement, the American University in Cairo [AUC]. Prior to this, she was Project Manager of the
Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library (MPDL), AUC. El-Taraboulsi was an MA Merit Fellow at the English
and Comparative Literature Department, AUC. Her thesis is a comparative analysis of citizenship in Egypt
and Iran.
2 The National Council of Youth in Egypt defines youth within the age bracket of 18-35. This is the
definition that will be used when referring to youth in this publication.
3 Staiger, Uta. “Cities, Citizenship, Contested Cultures: Berlin’s Palace of the Republic and the
Politics of the Public Sphere.” Cultural Geographies. 2009 (16): 309-327.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
7
Space, according to Henri Lefebvre, is not a static location where content is poured, but is a
production that results from the dynamic interaction of relations spanning both the tangible (i.e.
physical dimension of space) and the intangible (ideas and values). Tahrir Square is a tangible
space in which a variety of intangible spaces interplayed with one another and in which the tangible
and the intangible interfaced. Mona El Ghobashy in “The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution”4
identifies three intangible causes of the revolution that were acutely felt on the ground: technology,
Tunisia and tribulation. The ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in mid January in Tunisia allowed
the Egyptian people to believe that change was possible.
This sense of possibility was galvanized by the power of social media [technology] and the rising
discontent within the population as a result of festering economic and social problems such as
nepotism, corruption, rising prices - to name but a few.
Two incidents brought together social media and rising discontent in a potent moment
Communicative action is that triggered an uprising against the Mubarak regime. The first was the death of Khaled
essential to collective action. Said, a young Alexandrian who was beaten to death by police officers in broad daylight,
in apparent revenge for posting a video on Youtube that showed the officers dividing up
a drug bust. Public opinion was stirred by Wael Ghonim’s fervent Facebook group “We
Are All Khaled Said”. Ghonim used social media to forge a virtual public space, one
where Khaled Said’s death was not just one more evidence of police predatory behavior
towards the people. More significantly, Khaled Said became symbolic of the myriad
forms of oppression that Egyptians experienced on a daily basis.
The second incident was the flagrant rigging of the national legislative elections; not only was the
regime using different tools to oppress the people, even worse, they were not doing it subtly enough.
While the people were using social media to communicate with one another, the aging regime
represented and led by an aging president failed to join in those conversations. Civil society and the
opposition in Egypt made attempts to bridge that gap but where systematically and continuously
obstructed and impeded by the regime.
Collective action was being practiced by Egyptians in innovative and creative means, long before
the revolution took place. This was evident in an interview dated April 2010 with Mohammed
Sharkawy, Human Rights Activist, Founder and Owner of Dar Malamih, a publishing house that
targets “first-time authors, Egypt-centric works, and works promoting the values of human rights,
the civil state, freedom, justice and equality.” Sharkawy, who is a member of the April 6 Movement,
and who in 2006, in a protest to support the independence of the judiciary, was taken to a police
station, tortured then sent to jail for a few more weeks5 , spoke of a fledgling literary movement in
downtown Cairo that was shaped as a result of;
[…] the different forms of corruption that exist in Egypt; there are so many forms of
corruption that I can’t even categorize them. There’s cultural political corruption that has
rendered the Egyptian people backward and ignorant and defeatist.
To counter that “defeatist” attitude, young Egyptians negotiated new public spaces in art, writing
and social media. Sharkawy underscored how there was a paradigmatic shift from a previous focus
on language and print media to an emphasis on the importance of expression as a value in and of
itself. He said:
Blogging created a new opposition, a new literary movement that started discussing the
problems that Egyptians face on a daily basis, problems that were silenced. It created a
virtual reality, new virtual streets to demonstrate upon. […] This is what became called
new writing. Language there doesn’t matter, all that matters is the act of expression itself.
(My italics)
4 El Ghobashy, Mona. “The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution.” Middle East Research and
Information Project, http://www.merip.org/mer/mer258/praxis-egyptian-revolution
5 More information is available at http://www.slate.com/id/2166146
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
8
Communication modes were an essential aspect of collective action in Egypt in early 2011. For
the young Egyptians who sparked the uprisings --as well as the hundreds of thousands more who
joined them over the subsequent 18 days – it was the creative repertoire of messages, banners, and
visual images captured on television that ultimately drew all ages and classes of Egyptians into the
Square. The aim of this report is to explore those youth-initiated modes of expression as they had
been developing in recent years into their ultimate expression in Tahrir Square.
The report explores both tangible and intangible aspects of youthful expression in public space.
The first section reflects on the forging of an Egyptian collective consciousness characterized by
loneliness, alienation, and exclusion exercised by the regime against its people, primarily youth.
The section also looks at three youth-led initiatives prior to 2011 as illustrative examples of the
novel ways youth were claiming their own spheres of influence on ideological and professional
levels.
The second section takes a closer look at the role of social media and informal modes of youth civic
engagement [as intangible public space]. It explores how social media do or do not provide public
spaces and tools to foster youth participation, with specific examples from before and during the
Revolution and some insights on how these tools might be embraced to further support youth civic
participation going forward.
And finally, the third section taps into the creative public space created by the protestors on the
Square through the arts. During the 18 days of the Egyptian Revolution, stencils and graffiti were
used as a form of political and social expression. Illustrations will be provided in this section to
give a flavor of visual representations by professional and amateur artists. All three manifestations
of public space are interwoven with one another; the division into sections should not be regarded
as indicative of a separation on the ground.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
9
Amir Makar
Section 1: Spaces of Citizenship: Youth
Civic Engagement and Pathways to the
January 25 Revolution
Sherine El-Taraboulsi, John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement
Different worlds came together in Tahrir Square; all united by a collective consciousness and a
shared vision for change. And yet, the ideological, cultural and historical ferment of the Midan
extended far beyond its spatial and temporal boundaries. A comprehensive understanding of how the
youth-led revolution was made possible is incomplete if analysis is solely directed to the 18 intense
days of protests that culminated in the ousting of President Mubarak. With the benefit of hindsight,
one can now see how youth social movements were in the making prior to 2011 and in many ways,
directly or indirectly, those movements influenced the course of events of the revolution.
“We are in the age of the simultaneous, Previous research on youth civic engagement in Egypt and the Middle
of juxtaposition, the near and the far, the East had primarily focused on trends of youth exclusion by looking at
side by side and the scattered. A period unemployment, declining health, delayed marriage and labor market
in which, in my view, the world is putting segmentation. Those modes of youth exclusion were intensified by Egypt’s
itself to the test, not so much as a great “youth population bulge” that marked its demographic transition. While the
way of life destined to grow in time, but word “bulge” connotes “a place that lies outside all places,”6 youth were
as a net that links points together and in fact actively exercising and vocalizing their citizenship in a variety of
creates its own muddle.” ways: some by forming non-profit organizations, others participating in
social media or engaging in the arts. We will show how those spheres point
-Michel Foucault, “Of Other Spaces: towards the forging of a collective consciousness that later manifested itself
Utopias and Heterotopias” in unflinching solidarity in the Square. None of these spheres was isolated
from the other: reality seeped into the virtual world and vice versa, and it was
the interaction among those spaces that provided an enabling environment
for youth to spark the revolution that started on January 25.
6 Foucault, Michel. “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias.” University of Colorado Boulder.
1967. 15 June 2011. http://www.colorado.edu/envd/courses/ENVD4114-001/Spring 06/Theory/Foucault.pdf
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
10The first part of this section reflects on the formation of a collective consciousness born of cumulative
discontents towards the regime in the period leading up to the Revolution. Testimonials from a focus
group of young Tahrir activists, held in April 2011, are used to give a glimpse into that space as
closely tied to expressions of citizenship. By focusing on three youth-led organizations, the second
part reports on research that was in process prior, during and after January 2011. That project
to map youth civic engagement was midway to completion, led by the John D. Gerhart Center
for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo in cooperation with
Innovations in Civic Participation and supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Through these
three organizations we examine the spaces that had been created prior to the revolution that allowed
young Egyptians to exercise citizenship in ways that ‘flew under the radar’ of most observers and
the state security apparatus charged with protecting the status quo.
Collective Consciousness and Collective Discontents
Social movements are closely tied to citizenship rights. As mediators of political, social and cultural
change and by negotiating new definitions of society and membership, social movements express
collective consciousness through collective action. Definitions of citizenship have highlighted this
collective consciousness in a variety of ways, but primarily by identifying two major components of
the term. The first is that it represents membership in a polity or a collective, becoming involved in
dialectics of inclusion and exclusion and determining who is considered eligible to become part of
this collective and who is not. The other dimension is that membership brings with it a “reciprocal
set of duties and rights,” which are context-specific and vary by place and time.7
Collective consciousness in Egypt was building up in the period before the Revolution to a great
extent as a result of collective discontents. The events that unfolded in Tahrir Square pointed
towards many festering economic, social and political issues that go back over twenty years in time.
An extended focus group was held by the Gerhart Center in April 2011 with ten young activists
who spent the 18 days of the revolution in the Square. They were all under the age of 25, and lived
in various parts of Egypt. Interestingly, many of the protestors in Tahrir Square were not originally
from Cairo, but came from all over the country to be part of this unique moment in Egyptian history.
The majority of the participants stated that they had a sense of duty towards themselves and others
to join the protests and to claim their “usurped rights”. One of the participants from Cairo said:
I joined the protests on the 25 of January expecting no change
to happen, but I joined because deep down inside I felt that
I had a duty towards myself to at least try; because for a “The dimensions of youth exclusion are
very long time, I had seen my rights usurped and I was not closely related. Poor learning leads to poor
standing up for myself. That night, state security, like thugs, job prospects. The ability to form families
used gun shots and tear gas bombs to divide the protestors – and achieve personal independence
the Egyptian people don’t like thugs – I decided that if I died, is closely linked to the ability to find
I would have at least died for a cause. I decided I would not productive employment and earn an
leave, until he [President Mubarak] left. adequate income. Civic participation is
essential to successfully transitioning to
When asked why he had that sense of duty, he responded saying: meaningful adult roles in which people can
participate fully in society and contribute
Imagine if every day, somebody comes over to your home to community development.”
and steals something, and you don’t do anything about it. You
don’t even call the police or tell your parents that there was a - Ragui Asssaad and Ghada Barsoum,
thief. Everybody, even a mentally-retarded person, could see “Youth Exclusion in Egypt: In Search of
that we were all getting ripped off every single day. We could ‘Second Chances’ “
all see it happen before our very eyes but we were silent!
7 Kivisto, Peter and Thomas Faist. “Introduction,” Citizenship: Discourse, Theory and
Transnational Prospects. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 2007: 1-15.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
11There was a struggle to be heard and seen; a struggle to reclaim dignity and pride as citizens, not as
submissive subjects. A story by one of the participants who was taken into custody by state security
on January 26 unveils the harsh treatment of the regime towards protesters. Through brutal tactics,
the regime effectively made enemies of its own people. Left for 3 hours in a steel armored vehicle
with little air to breathe, he shouted and called for help until he was transferred to a prison cell
where he was left without food or water for 12 hours. He was then interrogated by a police officer
as he reported in detail:8
I: Do you pray? Are you affiliated with any group? Are you on Facebook?
P: Today is my first day praying. I have never prayed before.
I: Are you a member of the Khaled Said Facebook page?
P: I compose music and so I use Facebook to communicate with people.
I: So, do you compose patriotic songs?
P: No, songs for youth…
I: What does your father do for a living? Do you have siblings? What were you doing in
the protests?
P: I had an exam and was passing by the Midan. I didn’t know there were protests…
After some time, he was released from prison. The experience made him even more determined to
continue protesting. Like many other protestors, he realized that state security was not invincible,
that it recognized the power of the people and feared their impact. The barrier of fear was broken.
Another participant highlighted the earlier beating death of Khaled Said as the main reason why he
joined the protests; in his mind, the Khaled Said murder symbolized the many evils of the regime
-- denial of justice, brutality and assaults on human dignity. He said:
I had nothing to do with politics. My initial interest into that world was Khaled
Said. I was outraged by his murder – Why is it that we are denied all our rights?
Why is it that the Egyptian citizen is denied dignity? Why can he be taken away
by the police or state security at any time for no reason? So, I started following
the Khaled Said Facebook group and the April 6 and Kefaya movements.
Social media was important but the social consciousness that was building up a social movement
before the revolution was far more powerful. When the internet was cut, people still flowed into the
square. On this issue, a female participant very passionately said:
There were no means of communication in Egypt. This enraged the people and those who
were not in the protests then knew that what we were doing was right. People started
coming to the Square because they wanted to know how the protestors were doing. The
Egyptian people are smart and when they are given a challenge, they are up to it. This
challenge meant that the president underestimated the Egyptian people. Many of the young
people who came to the Square were not part of the Khaled Said Facebook group; many
were not on Facebook in the first place. Masses of people came because they suffered from
the police, the need for bread and gas…
8 I: Interrogator, P: Participant
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
12Reasons to the join the protests were varied, each protestor has his or her very personal story to
tell. However, there was a consensus that this was a revolution to reclaim dignity and justice; both
of which were denied to the Egyptian people by the regime. A collective consciousness was forged
from resisting the day to day degradation that Egyptians had faced for over twenty years. This
consciousness manifested itself in the slogans of the Revolution: “Leave, leave, leave, for good,
let our country see the light,” “Raise, raise the chant / our people are free and not afraid,” “The
crescent and the cross against murder and torture,” “Revolution, revolution everywhere against the
traitors and the scoundrels” and “Dignity and freedom is the demand of all Egyptians”- to mention
but a few9.
The exclusion of many groups - especially youth - from public space had contributed to the
formation of this collective consciousness and marked one of the definitive features of the period
leading to the Revolution. The World Development Report 2007 specifies five life transitions that
are pivotal to youth inclusion: education, work, health, forming families and civic participation.
Young Egyptians were locked in a “waithood period” and excluded from education, work, health,
marriage and forming families. Despite those frustrations, some were using civic participation as a
creative safety valve to stay engaged and present in public space.
The following pages will look at the “second chances” towards inclusion provided by three youth-
led organizations. The striking aspect of the organizations we include in this analysis is their lack of
reliance on adult guidance or support. They are largely youth-run and/or youth targeted and focus
on community and civic engagement, even though little encouragement was offered by the wider
social environment of the time.
In Search of “Second Chances”: Institutionalized Youth Civic Engagement
Youth exclusion in the period before the revolution manifested itself in ways perceived to be
located on the margins of public space and yet very central to it. The more visible public space was
dominated by social, cultural and political values that belonged to a much older generation that
was set in its ways and not ready to empower a younger generation. Young people created their
own spaces in creative innovative ways that were embedded at the very heart of public space albeit
relatively unperceived by the older generation. Youth exclusion was the result of social, cultural
and political gaps that were represented in two different worlds; an old unchanging decaying world
[typified by the government and Mubarak’s regime] and a vibrant world of young people who were
calling for change and exercising their citizenship in their own way. There is a spectrum of other
players between both of these poles (for example the increasingly effective labor movement of the
past several years), but on the whole, it is the disconnect between those two worlds that eventually
proved too contradictory to continue, and led to mass mobilization during the revolution.
In a study on youth exclusion in Egypt, Ragui Assaad and Ghada Barsoum highlight youth civic
engagement as “integral” to youth inclusion in society and to their exercising of citizenship:
“Evidence suggests that civic participation yields positive developmental outcomes: facilitating
collective action, yielding more effective and better targeted services, and reducing corruption by
allowing for channels of accountability.” (6) Civic participation opened a new space to frustrated
youth enabling them to, in the words of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, “develop their power
to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves;
they come to see the world not as a static reality but as a reality in process, in transformation.”
(Cited in Underwood 5)10 This acknowledgement of transformation was effective in breaking the
“waithood” cycle that young people were stalled within. Prospects of change became a possibility.
9 Cited in The Angry Arab News Service http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/01/egyptian-slogans.
html
10 Underwood, Carol and Bushra Jabre. “Reflections on Civic Participation and Emerging
Leadership in the Arab World.” NYU Abu Dhabi Institute. February 2010. 15 June 2011. http://wagner.nyu.
edu/leadership/reports/files/CivicParticipationandEmergingLeadership.pdf
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
13Since roughly 2000, a growing number of youth-led and/or youth-targeted organizations emerged in
Egypt as an outlet for youthful action; three of those will be highlighted here. They were selected as
illustrative of youth initiated, led and targeted organizations with ongoing programs and activities
related to youth that played a role on the ground during the revolution and continue to do so in the
Post-Mubarak period. Data was collected through interviews prior to and after the revolution with
leaders and staff members in the organizations to understand the unique aspects of their approach
to youth civic engagement. The profiles are still exploratory, in an attempt to shed light on how
those organizations began more or less as ‘silo’ public spaces that later came together in the Square.
Al Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies
Ripple in Still Waters
Founded in 2004 by two Muslim and two Christian university undergraduates committed to
spreading a culture of tolerance around minority issues in Egypt, Al Andalus Institute hearkens
back to Spain’s Andalusia, a place that historically brought together Islamic and Christian heritage
within the same space. The institute’s definition of citizenship is based primarily on the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. The institute defines itself as:
An independent research institution that relies on the values of tolerance and citizenship,
aiming at contributing to human development in Egyptian and Arabic societies and on its
way to achieving that, the institute confirms its commitment to “declaration of principles
on tolerance, proclaimed and signed by the member states of UNESCO on 16 November
1995,” and all international declarations, covenants, treaties and bills pertaining to the
subject of human rights issued by the UN or any of its sub-organizations.
With a mission that placed it on the margins of Egypt under Mubarak, Al Andalus’ office space is
paradoxically located in one of Cairo’s historic buildings a short walk from Tahrir Square; it is a
space that is physically at the very heart of the busy city and yet ideologically it has been pushed to
its fringes by a regime that covered up sectarian strife.
Their radio station Horytna, or Our Freedom, is a portal through which they spread their voice
and ideas beyond that office space to the entire country. Launched in 2007, the station has been a
success, so much so that within one year, it managed to attract around 80,000 listeners from all over
the world11. In February 2010, website traffic on Horytna.net reached 3,783,654 and by May 2011,
it was up to 5,094,42712. The station was created by Ahmed Samih who wanted to create a free
space for young people to discuss human rights as well as other social problems that youth face in
Egypt. So, in the midst of a culture of exclusion towards youth, young people like Samih through
the help of a platform like Al Andalus, were actively carving out space for themselves, creating
ripples in still waters.
The institute is run by 40 full-time and six part-time staff members, all within the age bracket of 19-
35, and has more than 100 volunteers. To Al Andalus, youth civic engagement is defined as youth
contributions to their communities. The institute prides itself on welcoming new innovative ideas
by young people and supporting them financially and with planning and outreach.
Al Andalus represents a paradigmatic shift from other institutions and organizations that were
locked within limitations enforced by Mubarak’s regime. The General Federation of NGOs and
Foundations, founded by the Egyptian government in 1969 and led by a board composed of 30
members who were appointed by the President of Egypt, was entrusted with regulating the work of
organizations and foundations in Egypt, leaving little freedom for creativity. In order to maneuver
around those regulations, some organizations resorted to registering themselves as companies
instead or developed new ways to negotiate a space within those boundaries in order to transcend
them. Al Andalus is an example; it registered as a non-profit company to allow itself more freedom
in securing funding and to facilitate its work.
11 Abdel-Kader, Ghada. “The New Airwave,” Al Ahram Weekly, 12-18 March 2009. http://weekly.
ahram.org.eg/2009/938/li1.htm
12 Statistics were provided by Horytna.net Manager.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
14As an institute for studies and research, Al Andalus has offered raising awareness and training
sessions within and beyond Cairo. Aided by its radio station, Al Andalus, set into motion a process
of “conscientisation” by helping young people to critically analyze their situations in order to realize
that “the world is subject to change, and – given sufficient political, economic and social resources
– ultimately [they] are empowered to rise to the challenge to change the world in which they live.”
(Underwood 5) This process of conscientisation marked the birth of a new consciousness and a
social movement in the making that believed in the possibility of change.
In the Midan
The fruits of this process of conscientisation were evident during the revolution; the public forum
provided by the institute prior to January 25 manifested itself in the Square. The social movements
that had existed on the fringes were brought to the center and the institute’s definition of citizenship
was put to practice on the ground. In addition to collaborating with the Egyptian army to protect
civilians against attacks by thugs, and bringing in food and medical supplies to the square, the Al
Andalus team developed a series of training sessions after the ousting of Mubarak on the Egyptian
constitution, delivered seminars on human rights and transitioning to democracy, and organized
campaigns to raise awareness beyond Cairo about the constitutional amendments.
It is significant that the website traffic on Horytna.net rose from 3,897,698 in December 2010
to 7,259,861 in January 2011 and 7,649,331 in February 2011. While the location of visitors is
unspecified (whether within or outside Egypt), the substantial rise in numbers is almost certainly
a part of Egyptian awakening to the important issues of tolerance and bears witness to a widening
reach of Al Andalus’ activities during the revolution.
When the deputy director was asked whether there were changes in the institute’s strategies in the
Post-Mubarak period, his response was that their focus has shifted towards sustaining the spirit of
the Midan and using Al Andalus as a forum to raise awareness around maintaining the values of
the revolution during a transition to democracy and an Egypt that respects human rights and rejects
all forms of violence.
The Andalus office continues to be a popular forum space for youth of both sexes and from all
walks of life and disparate interests to get together and discuss the latest political, social and
cultural issues affecting Egypt.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
15Nahdet El Mahrousa: Incubating Social Enterprises
Failing Economy, Failing Social Structure
In the period leading to the revolution, fragmentation in the public space resulted to a great extent
from a fragmented economy. By 2010, unemployment had risen to as high as 9.4% with 84% of
the unemployed being in the age group 15 to 30; 20.4% of Egyptians aged between 18 and 29 were
out of work in 201013 and direct foreign investments had fallen by 39%. The Egyptian government
resorted to a crisis response plan that resulted in real GDP growth of 5.3% in FY10, up from the
4.7% in FY09 but still below the 7% average of FY06-FY08. However, the recovery failed to reach
most of the population who were suffering from dramatic food price increases and stagnant wages;
the vast majority felt excluded from the benefits of growth.14
Moreover, pressures on public services were severe, with public schools failing to teach and
hospitals failing to heal. This created a need for alternative service provisions and a sense among
young people in particular that ‘no one else was going to solve the society’s problems so they
might as well pitch in’. Some organizations emerged at the intersection of ideational citizenship (as
manifested in Al Andalus Institute’s approach) and citizenship as action on the ground.
A Space for Young Professionals
Nahdet El Mahrousa (NM) forged such a space by engaging Egyptian youth in intellectual
and entrepreneurial pursuits. Established in November 2003 as a youth-led non-governmental
organization, NM targets young Egyptian professionals and empowers them by incubating
innovative projects in the areas of “youth development, arts and culture development, health
services, the environment, linking education to employment, and promoting the culture of research
and development.” Hence, NM’s vision: “A developed Egypt through the active participation and
belonging of its young professionals.”
The organization has around 23 full-time staff members, all between 19 and 35 years old. It has
around 200 volunteers and many more on its wide mailing list. In addition it has an active internship
program, supporting five during the summer break and five during the winter break. Its objectives
shed light on the role it has played to address the complex matrix of Egypt’s economic and social
problems:
• Activating and engaging young Egyptian professionals to become “social entrepreneurs”
active in the development of their communities.
• Mobilizing young professionals and spreading the culture of contributing to local
communities.
• Addressing Egypt’s toughest development problems through innovative approaches.
• Creating a strong community of social entrepreneurs, non-profits, businesses, academia,
government and international agencies and donors.
In order to realize its vision, NM nurtures promising social entrepreneurs with a number of services
including provision of space, technical support and funding of innovative social enterprises15. Those
who are supported are defined by NM as “social entrepreneurs who can act as agents of change in
their communities, have demonstrated social entrepreneurial and leadership skills, strong passion
for building new ventures and an appreciation of Egypt and its diversity.” Those same traits were
clearly evident on the Square among those who led the protests; NM’s vision and objectives are an
articulation of effective citizenship which flowered during the Revolution.
13 Ahram Online, “A Fifth of Egyptian Youth Unemployed in 2010: New Data.” August 2011, http://
english.ahram.org.eg/News/18653.aspx
14 World Bank Report, March 2011, http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/
COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/EGYPTEXTN/0,,menuPK:287166~pagePK:141132~piPK:141107~theSite
PK:256307,00.html
15 Nahdet El Mahrousa Organizational Profile March 2011
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
16The incubation of social enterprises also includes capacity building, technical support, access
to resources and a supportive network of like-minded entrepreneurs. Funding is provided to the
entrepreneur in the form of a monthly stipend and to the enterprise in the form of a seed grant.
NM has also partnered with several entities to scale up its initiatives. In partnership with Yahoo!
Maktoob, it launched the Social Innovation Starts with YOU! (SISWY) Program in April 2010.
Hundreds of Egyptians submitted ideas for social enterprises that would benefit their communities
and in turn their country. This partnership provided 10 grants and a total of $250,000 to Egyptian
youth.
To bridge the gap between the job market and Egyptian education, NM partnered with the
International Youth Foundation and USAID to support the creation of six social enterprises: two
in Cairo and Ain Shams Universities and four in four youth centers in Cairo, Fayoum and Minya,
thereby including marginalized youth.
Last but not least, as part of a partnership with the International Youth Foundation, NM is managing
the Champions of Change: Creating Economic Opportunity for Youth (CFC) Program. Again, this
project targets marginalized youth and seeks to prepare them for a competitive job market.
In the Midan
NM staff and volunteers were active on the Square in their capacity as individuals. And according
to a conversation with NM’s Public Relations Officer, the period following the intense 18 days of
the revolution witnessed an upsurge of interest by NM members nationally and internationally.
There has also been international interest in working with NM in order to capitalize on the unique
moment in Egypt’s history.
NM has launched a series of discussions at Salon El Mahrousa to explore a variety of topics: civic
education, youth participation, civil society capacity building and many more. Those discussions
bring together practitioners, policymakers and academics to look in a comprehensive manner at
how the spirit of the revolution can be sustained in a strategic manner in the Post-Mubarak period
and through youth leadership.
Alashanek ya Balady (For You My Country): Breaking Down the Walls of Separation
Founded in 2002 at the American University in Cairo (AUC) by a group of students and later
registered as an NGO in 2005, Alshanek ya Balady is yet another example of a youthful space for
citizenship put into action. The inspiration in the life of Raghda El-Ebrashi, then a 12
year old child, sprang out of a chance encounter with a poor elderly woman in a Sharkeya
“We believe in the
village, whose fortitude and resilience gave Raghda a new perspective on Egyptian social
power of the civic sector
inequalities. Seeing that Um Fathy’s home had no ceiling and lacked basic needs, El-
in creating innovative
Ebrashi was motivated to start campaigns for social development and later to establish
opportunities for the poor
Alashanek ya Balady as a student initiative at AUC.
to sustain their lives, for
Alashanek ya Balady now has around 50 staff members in the NGO, all between 22 the active engagement of
and 35 years old. The organization works with about 500 volunteers annually divided youth in solving society’s
over many projects, each with around 20-50 young volunteers. Through its franchise problems, and for
system (explained later in this section), the organization works with an additional involving the private and
1,000 volunteers annually at universities around the country. The guiding idea behind the public sector in the
Alashanek ya Balady was that hand-outs and pity-driven charity would not eradicate course of social change.”
poverty and all the problems associated with deprivation, but sustained civic engagement
-Raghda El-Ebrashi,
and strategic social development would. “Development is the solution,” reiterated
Founder and Chairperson
Alashanek ya Balady’s Communications Manager, Mariam El Safty, shedding light on
of Alashanek ya Balady
the organization’s definition of citizenship as oriented toward poverty-alleviation and
development.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
17Active Citizenship through Community Empowerment
Alashanek ya Balady’s development model seeks to “graduate” communities from poverty.
Dispensing with the usual perception of those communities as a “problem”, Alashanek ya Balady
capitalizes on them as an “asset”. To effectively empower those communities, the organization
adopts a comprehensive approach that addresses the interconnected causes and manifestations of
poverty through the following:
• Learning: Communities receive vocational and other types of training and coaching in
order to prepare young people for the job market.
• Entrepreneurship: Through the Loans program, the organization provides needed funding
and technical assistance for small entrepreneurs who wish to start businesses in their local
communities.
• Employment: The organization has partnered with several private sector companies to
help place individuals from unprivileged communities on a career path.
• Activism: The organization leads a franchise system in community development whereby
interested university students are encouraged to establish similar community development
organizations in their universities. Three to four universities are added every year, and six
new universities joined the franchise program in the period between 2010 and 2011. Those
student organizations can be regarded as mini-democracies; presidents are elected and
university students become fully integrated within the development model. They receive
technical support from Alashanek ya Balady, including capacity building, seed funding,
networking and access to the organization’s resources and development models.
In the Midan
During the Revolution, Alashanek ya Balady staff and volunteers were in the Midan in an individual
capacity. During and after the 18 intense days, the organization responded within the structure of
its programs, to needs on the Square and beyond. The rapid decline in tourism
and the economy precipitated income losses and that, in turn, led to layoffs and
increased unemployment. The real estate sector witnessed the sharpest decline of
29% while 67% of companies in the telecommunications sector faced declining
incomes; and the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services reported the highest
losses of EGP 90 million. In addition, many companies operating within banking,
financial services and real estate sectors had assets under investigation for
possible corruption by Egyptian authorities16. The steep rise in unemployment hit
poor communities the hardest and the organization wanted to respond.
Based on an interview with Alashanek ya Balady’s communications manager,
although they did not start new programs or projects, there has been a concentrated
effort to respond within existing micro-enterprise loan programs. To respond to
rising job layoffs (including among protestors who were wounded and lost their
livelihood as a result), Alashanek ya Balady focused on providing those young
people with loans, along with all the coaching and training needed to develop
small projects that would generate income and stave off falling into poverty.
16 Shahin, Hassan and Nicolas Zreik. “The Impact of Egypt’s Revolution on the Corporate
Sector.” Zawya Research. July 2011. July 5, 2011. https://www.zawya.com/viewFullPdfStory.cfm/
sidpdf_040711073220
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
18Conclusion
As mentioned before, each protestor has his own story to tell. The common motif, “On January 28, we marched
however, that most stories have is the unique solidarity born in the Square and through out of Shubra. We were very
the Revolution. The various trials and tribulations of the Egyptian people were known pleased to see that State Security
and present to all; the experience of degradation and denial of dignity was acutely felt, was allowing us out one group
day in day out, on personal and national levels. Collective consciousness was born after another. We thought they
of collective discontents. It was the January 25 Revolution that helped this collective actually understood why we were
consciousness become ardent expressions of citizenship. The barrier of fear was protesting and that they decided
broken and the Egyptian people called for change and were determined to make it to join our ranks. We were
happen. This determination persists and continues to define the will of the people. wrong. They surrounded our
protest and attacked us. I was hit
A review of three examples of institutionalized youth civic engagement in the period then fainted. An old man saved
leading up to the Revolution demonstrates how youth-led organizations provided a me by taking me to his home, a
space for emergent forms of citizenship on both ideational and practical levels. By poor shack made of wood. He
avoiding overt politics and scrutiny from the Mubarak regime, these initiatives were asked: “Son, why are you fighting
allowed to grow unhindered and to build important networks, skills and orientations with these people?” To which, I
among the young people who participated. Those became very relevant to the process responded telling him the whole
of social mobilization that was catalyzed in the revolution. story. The following day this old
man joined the protests.”
These efforts by young Egyptians succeeded in negotiating a space for youth to voice
their Egyptian-ness and put it into action on the ground. They represented a fresh -Participant in Focus Group
revived understanding of citizenship that was more progressive than that of older Discussion
NGOs or officialdom. In the aftermath of the revolution, these groups are well-placed
to go beyond redundant slogans and to begin rebuilding Egypt. Thus, to sustain the
spirit and gains of the Revolution we believe it will be imperative to capitalize on these institutions
and young people in general as a force for positive change in the new Egypt.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
19Amir Makar
SECTION 2: Social Media and
Informal Youth Participation
Colleen Hammelman, Innovations in Civic Participation and Betsy Messard, PhD Candidate at
the University of Virginia17
When masses of young Egyptians flowed into the streets during the January Revolution,
“Social media or social we learned that the “virtual streets” for demonstrating that were percolating on various
networking tools are Internet- social media sites were not entirely separated from actual, physical ones. Observers,
based applications that focus commentators and participants themselves have pointed to the central role of various
on building social networks or forms of social media in tilling the soil of Egypt’s revolution. They did so by raising
social relations among people awareness, providing a common vocabulary of resistance, cultivating networks of
with shared interests and/or activists, and serving as models for the proliferation of an ever increasing number of
activities.” virtual public spaces, at a time when there was limited access to viable, physical ones.
- Arab Social Media Report, As more young people in the Arab world and Egypt subscribe to social media and new
Dubai School of Government technology, these tools hold the promise of spurring greater youth participation in political
and civic public spaces. Some of these tools include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SMS or
text messaging, website discussion boards and blogs, YouTube and various other avenues
by which young people are organizing, creating their own media and participating in civic life.
According to the Arab Social Media Report, as of January 2011 Egypt had 4.7 million Facebook
users, constituting about 22% of total Facebook users in the Arab region18.
17 Colleen Hammelman is a program associate at Innovations in Civic Participation managing
projects relating to capacity building for youth civic engagement organizations in South Asia and the
Middle East and North Africa, youth service and environmental sustainability, developing pathways to
teaching careers for AmeriCorps members, measuring the impact of youth civic engagement and ICP
communications. Betsy Messard is a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at the University of Virginia,
living in Cairo. Her work explores the theological, political and literary components of visions of
community and social change in contemporary Egypt and America.
18 “Arab Social Media Report.” Dubai School of Government. Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2011. P. 4.
Web.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
20And there is no doubt that the numbers have increased since that time. Social media tools such as
Facebook are being used in a variety of ways to bring together young people for collective action
and to foster youth civic participation.
In this section, we explore how social media do (or do not) provide public spaces and tools to foster
youth participation, with specific examples from before and during the Revolution in Egypt. We
offer some insights on how these tools might be embraced to further support youth civic participation
going forward, in particular ways in which young people are using virtual public spaces in identity
formation (an important component of forging collective action). We also note ways in which
social media tools can reduce barriers for collective action and support offline participation. This
section explores specific examples of social media’s efficacy before and during the Revolution
using primarily blogs, internet affinity groups, and circulating slogans, images and video clips. Our
interest is in the relationship between these tools and other more traditional organizing activities
such as the distribution of flyers, public protests and earlier efforts to seize public space. We consider
both Arabic and English media, for access to both audiences was critical to the efficacy of these
outlets and the movement they ultimately helped to organize. Finally, we offer a caution against
overemphasizing the effect of social media tools by addressing their limitations and the tendency of
some journalists and others to overlook months and years of labor, campus and political organizing
in favor of an overly simple ‘Facebook’ explanation for Egypt’s profound social movement during
the January 25 revolution.
Spheres of Identity
The virtual spaces of online communities are key sites of identity formation for the current
generation of young users. Identify formation is both a motivation and an effect of participation
in social media. Understanding this dimension of social media usage is essential to understanding
its mobilizing capacity. Identity formation has always been a fundamental component of youth
transitions to adulthood, and therefore a focus on many social activities, including of course those
that preceded the Internet age. However, new technologies and the varieties of social media, that they
have activated, intensify young users’ exposure to the wider world of youth culture and diversity. It
stimulates a desire to explore, cultivate, adjust and represent one’s identity in new ways. Moreover,
the spaces created by social media demand that they do so across multiple spheres.
The generation of youth that now uses social media is uniquely capable of connecting with a global
community and is able to identify with ideas, values, styles and desires that are indifferent to
geographical location. This sense of identifying with others around the globe enables young people
to realize that “there must be something better” than the political and economic constraints under
which they suffer, even if they aren’t entirely certain of what kind of government or social order
they want.19 As professor and Brookings fellow Ragui Assaad has explained, new technologies
that allow young people to see their peers in other parts of the world enjoying rights, freedoms and
luxuries that they are denied gives rise to a sense of resentment toward their own governments.20
Identifying with the achievements and aspirations of a global community engenders a sense of
entitlement to follow through with their demands. Moreover, youth may become empowered by
the idea that small, local efforts are at the same time contributions to a global effort to stand up to
oppression and expand rights and liberties. The ability of social media tools to help connect young
people across distances has contributed to a growing sense of global citizenship, which encourages
speaking, acting and volunteering across borders to address injustices wherever they occur. The
global sphere of identity is a key component of the relationship between participation through
social media and collective action.
19 Sayre, Edward. Interview available at http://www.thetakeaway.org/2011/feb/11/generational-gap-
egypt/
20 Schmickle, Sharon. “Behind the Turmoil in Egypt: Angry Young People Who Expected More.”
Minnesota Post. January 31, 2011. Web.
Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt
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